RAILWAY SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 140, 9 March 1920, Page 7

RAILWAY SERVICE

WIDESPREAD DISSATISFACTION JUDGE STRINGER'S REPORT CONDEMNED SOME TALK OF A STRIKE There is evidence,'that the dissatisfaction expressed in ollher' centres with the report of Mr. Justice Stringer regarding the pay snd conditions of • members of tho railway servicejis felt-by the heads of the railway societies in Wellington, and by the men,stationed, here,- especially by the men of the Second Division of the scrvice. I It is understood What the A.S.R.S. and the E.F.C.A., the -two Second Division societies, will claim , that they are not bound to accept tho findings of the report, ■ although the Government has approved the report.- Tho A.S.R.S. . expresses snrpris?''thrtt the report has not dealt with a. nnmlier of questions submitted to it, among; them the following': (1) Relativo pesition in the classification of guards, signalmen, shunters, and storemen. .(2) Abolition of second grades in the classification aiad percentages so far as thev apply to the Second Division. (3) Whether a shuntec, having been promoted to guard, should be required to take another term' of shunting before qualifying' for first; grade. • (4) Apprentices and'their attendanceat technical schools dvring vrookins hours. (5) Introduction of the tuileage basis for en-gine-drivers. (6) Establishment of Promotion and Puniishment Boards. (7) That the (so-calledji barrier between tho Firgt and Second Blivisions be abolished.; (8) That age limit 'for promotion fo certain positions be. fifcolishe'd. (9) Estab-. lishment and maintdnance of rest houses. (10) Readjustment of* the system of passes. The societies do ?.nt approve of the proposal in the report for the setting vp of an. Advisory Bdard. What the railway unions have been asking is that there should be jappointed 6ome independent body to ijnqiiire into a number of grievances whi)4h railwaymen allcgs they have suffered Jor a number of years. The'executives of 'the societies will meet shortly, and at tliat meeting they will be. aware of the.. opinions of their branches; ' They'will then be able to decide on their future policy. Meanwhile thereiis talk of a strike, and the possibility of i strike is being freely dismissed. ' A mass meeting of the Wellington branch of the A.SLR.S. was held at Petone last evening," when the following resolution was cnirried -unanimously:— "That this branch; express its utter dissatisfaction at the,, findings of the Wages Board, and we caJl on our executive to take, immediately a secret ballot of all members as to whether' they accept or reject the bonus; further, in the evont of rejection of the bonus being carried, •that the- executivo hand the whole case over to the Transport Workers' Advisory Board/'

PROTESTS FROM OTHER PARTS By Telegraph—Special Correspondent. Wanganui, March 8. Mr. Justice Stifuiger's, report, on the position of railwajymen hnd the recommendation for an< iucrease in wages of Is. a day for raaijried men and sixpence for unmarried mien has been received here with 'disapproval, and a stop-work meeting was held to-'day to discuss tho matter. The ohainnan' criticised that section of the-report which'suggested that immigration. would nettle the Question by lowering the wage& Mr. Justice Stringer, he said, had entirely failed to grapple with 'the position. The Tailwa.vmcn were asking for a. wage that would enable the men and their families to live decently, and this! was entirely impossible unless the present cost of living and soaring prices for commodities were taken into consklea'at'ion. For instance, a shilling a day lhad been granted to married men, and ti'iat increase 'had been practically absorbed by the advnnce in tlie price of. b)read. Mr: Justice Stringer's attitude'with regard to immigration and his suggestion that workers should be brought from, somewhere outside to compete with the workers, of New Zealand for jrjbs had nothing" whatever to do with the railwaymen and their just demandsj. To test the feeling of the meeting he'woukl .move:—"That this meeting deploffes *tho. statemfnt of Judge Stringer (as reported) that lie considers tho incrensitag rise' in wagss is attributable to tha shortage of labour, which will be relieved as increasing numbers of immigrants are available, ■and not attributable to the ever-soaring cost of commuditi«3. Surely this calls for a united'protest, from labour of all classed, and . . . leaves our position' hopeless in tha halnds of the Premier, the profiteer, and til e exploiter." , The motion was .seconded and carried unanimously.

A further resolution was carried supporting.. the soutlifern railwaymen in their demand for ss. a day increase. By Telegraph—Press Association. - IHamilton, March 8. . A meeting of the .Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants nt I'rankton passed a motion, ''That iiiis meeting strongly protests against the finding ot the Railwaynien's Wages and Conditions BoaiV and advocates that the Executive Council authorise a 'universal stop-work meeting to consider wliat action should ■ be .taken in. ths matter." A meeting 0 f the, branch of the Engineers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association, passed the following motion: "This branch views with disgust the finding of Mr. Justice String®- on the Railwaymen's Wages and Conditions Board, and urges the Executive! Council to reiterate the original demands and call stop-work meetings throughout the Dominion to deal with the matter. The meeting also pledges itself to back tho* execntivo in any action it may. adopt, and suggests that the time for. haggling'has passed, it being quite apparent that the men in tho railway service cannot get proper treatment by bargaining with officials." Auckland, March 8. A meetiug of tlie Auckland branch of the A.S.R.S. expressed itself as thoroughly dissatisfied With the increase of a shilling a day anfi requested the Exccutivo Council to make representations on the matter. Tho meeting resolvedto support the society's officers' in any action deemed necessary, and passed another resolution agnjinst spending public money in eutertainjing- the Princo of Wales. "In view the" fant that" the Government had faifed to grant its employees a living wagQ, wo further refuse to participate m thei celebrations," concluded the' resolution). • Palmei'ston North, March 8. . £ho Palmcrston Nlt>rth branch of tho A.b.H.b. retuisted tlno executive to retuse to accept the wngos and conditions as outlined in Mr. Jiistico Stringer's report, and also asketl tho executive lo press for anextra 55. ; a day, and failing satisfaction in 21 that a secret ballot be held on the question of striking. Iho meeting further l asked that a 11hour week bo universal for membifs of! the Second Division. A resolution also drew the attention <*f the Railway Department to tho shortage of houses in Palmerston North.

Christfhurch, March 8. At a largely-attendeiJ meeting of members nf the North Canterbury branch of Ii rrf W - Ay officer^' ' Institute to-night the following resdluticpi was unanimously carried'. "That thismooting, having fully considered .Tudget Stringer's finding, totally disagrees with* the same, as it entirely fails to placefour members on a pre-war: footing. Tho increase in the cost of living is shown by tho Government Statistician to h'A roughly, 40 per cent., and tho present proposed bonus, added to the JMS. givc<i n rise of from 8 per cent, in the higher grades to 27 per cent. in.the lower clorljs' grade. Wo are of opinion that our executive should stand for the schedule submitted lo the •Wages Hoard, and we ujill give every possible assistance in gairting the same. Wo also regret that cadets; (grculo 8) nre ignored, and that no provision is made for a minimum for married cadets." Wipier, March 8. At a ston-work meetijig of the Napier raihvav employees, thojlargest ever held here, including shops, . traffic, loco, and maintenance men. the''following resolutions were passed'"tyiat this meeting of railway employees, jhaving discussed the renort of Mr. J ustjico Stringor, and the recommendations Contained therein, has decided to refuse' to accept same, .as it oonsidore the increases Teooramend-

ej totally inadequate to meet tho continual increase in the cost of living. We cannot atrree to differential treatment between married and single men, nor are we prepared to accept less than 2s. 6d. a day increase as per tho executive's demand from March 31, 191!), up to February 2f). Further, in view of tho facte that according to the last. Gnzctio ■issued which shows balance of ,£1,303,355 above expenditure, we demand a further increase of 2s. fid. a day from March 1. 1!)20. Wo urge our executive to meet immediately, and wo pledge ourselves to sunnort them in any measures they may adopt to obtain the increases and the conditions asked for. If tho Government does not agree to grant our demands. the whole matter should be placed in the hands of tho Transport Workers' Advisory Board for speedy and determined settlement. This meeting emphatically protests against highly-paid officials boing grantee, big increases, while we are offered Is. a day, which is nothine short of an insult to members of the Second Division.